Modern Group

This diverse business group owned permits over a huge area of Merauke, through five different subsidiaries, but appears to be no longer active

Last Updated 28/07/2013

Company Description: The Modern Group is best known for its retail presence, having the Indonesian franchise for Fuji Film and Seven-Eleven convenience stores. The group also has manufacturing and real estate buildings and has recently entered a joint venture with a Chinese company to mine nickel in Sulawesi.

Owned by: The family of founder Ojte Honoris play key roles in Modern Group companies, but PT Modern Internasional, which controls the retail arm, is a publicly-listed company.

Plans in Merauke: Four companies – PT Agri Surya Agung, PT Mega Surya Agung, PT Kharisma Agri Pratama and PT Nusantara Agri Resources – have each obtained 40,000 hectare location permits for oil palm, sugar or food crops across the western part of the MIFEE area. A fifth company, PT Wanamulia Sukses Sejati, has three separate forestry permits which add up to 273,000 hectares. All these companies are registered at the address of PT Modern Internasional. However there have been no updates about any progress with any of these plans, either on the ground in Merauke or in the national media.

(UPDATE July 2013). None of the Modern Group companies appear to still be active in the area.